


Dreams Aren’t Far From Reality

by TheFoolsKnightober (TheFoolsKnight)



Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dreams and Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Serious Injuries, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnightober
Summary: Whumptober Day 9 - “Take me instead”Magnus wakes up from a nightmare, and learns from Isabelle that Alec was injured in fight last night
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Whumptober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947043
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	Dreams Aren’t Far From Reality

"No!" A firm hand gripped Magnus's arm, pulling him away from his father. "Take me instead!"

Magnus froze and turned halfway towards Alec, barely noticing the glinting in his father's eyes in the periphery of his vision. Alec was staring at Asmodeus, his eyes wide and full of anguish.

"Alec-"

"What was that?" Asmodeus asked, his eyes glinting as he took Alec in. 

"Take me instead," Alec said defiantly, squaring his shoulders and staring up at Asmodeus. "Take me in place of Magnus. Do whatever you want with me, but leave him alone."

"Alec, what are you doing?" Magnus hissed, gripping Alec's hand tight. "Stay away from this. You still have a long life ahead of you, don't throw it away-"

"I don’t care," Alec said, turning his eyes away. "If living means I'll have to be without you, I don’t care."

"Alexander, don’t be stupid-" Magnus snapped, turning to him and grabbing his shoulders. "You'll be fine! You'll move on, you'll find another love."

"But I don’t want another love," Alec said, his eyes flicking over to meet Magnus's. "I don't want any other love but you, Magnus."

"Alec-" Magnus began to say, but Alec didn't stop to hear any of this. He leaned in, kissing Magnus one last time before he walked past him, towards his father.

I took Magnus a moment to find his voice again.

"Alexander, no!" he yelled, turning around to stop me. "Alexander, please,  _ no- _ "

Magnus jerked awake in the comfort of his own home.

His eyes fell upon the familiar gold wallpaper of his bedroom and he relaxed, shoulders slumping and fell back into the pillows.

The ceiling fan spun lazily overhead as he collected himself. What even was that dream?

He sat up, the blanket sliding down to his waist, exposing his sweat-lined torso to the cool air. Magnus looked to his side, and frowned when he saw that Alec wasn't there. Touching Alec's side of the bed, he discovered that it was cold - Alec mustn't have returned from the patrol last night.

The implications of that thought thrummed though Magnus's heart, and he got out of bed, quickly pulling on a robe. As he walked out of the bedroom to make himself a coffee, Magnus quickly dialed Isabelle's number and held the phone to his ear.

Isabelle, bless her, picked up on the first ring. "Magnus?"

"Where's Alec?"

"Oh, he's fine," Isabelle said in a clipped voice. "He just got injured on the patrol last night."

"What?!"

"It's okay- a few healing runes were enough to heal his injuries. He's resting at the institute now," Isabelle hastened to add.

Magnus ran a hand through his hand, coffee long forgotten. " _ Why  _ didn't you bring him to me?"

"He, um, said he didn't want to disturb you," Isabelle said. "We wanted to call you first thing in the morning, but Alec said that you would be asleep. Mom insisted that he wasn't well enough to walk over to yours and insisted that he sleep here. You can come pick him up now, if you like."

"'If I like'," Magnus muttered to himself, and then said out loud to Isabelle. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Magnus’s hands shook the whole time he got dressed. 

He tried to convince himself that everything was fine, that Alec was fine, but doubt lodged itself like a thorn. 

The outline of the institute loomed ahead of him as he stepped through the portal, walking ahead and barely sparing it a glance as he flicked a finger to close it. He walked up to the doors of the institute and knocked as firm as he could.

Moments later, Jace opened the door. Magnus walked in past him, heading up to where he knew the infirmary was.

"What happened?" Magnus asked when he heard Jace’s footsteps follow after him.

"Nothing much, the demon couldn't be taken down from afar, so he had to step closer to find its weak point. He got injured in the process. A couple of broken ribs and some cuts. But he's fine now - I made sure of it."

Jace must’ve clearly noticed his bad mood, because he kept his distance and said nothing more. 

Magnus stalked through the open doors of the infirmary and found Alec lying in one of the beds, Isabelle and Clary sitting on the bed beside him, the three of them talking. They looked up when Magnus and Jace entered the room, and Alec's eyes widened a fraction.

Magnus walked over to him, not breaking eye contact, and said, 

"Can you leave the two of us alone?"

Isabelle, Jace and Clary murmured something in compliance and stepped out, closing the door behind them. 

"Magnus-"

Magnus ignored Alec and turned his attention to the bandages peeking out from under his sweater. He ran a hand over his torso, soft blue magic diffusing out of his fingers and into Alec's body, checking for himself just how bad the wounds were. When Magnus knew for sure that they were all completely healed - the bandages must've been placed there last night to stop any bleeding, judging by the couple of red stains marring them. 

Magnus looked up at Alec and said, "Why must you take such risks, Alexander?"

Alec blinked at him. "Risks? What risks? Magnus - yesterday was just a regular demon patrol, I just happened to get more injured that usual. It happens. There's nothing to worry about."

"How can you say that there's-" Magnus broke off abruptly, turning away and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Magnus."

Magnus heard the shuffling of bedsheets, and then Alec's comforting hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Magnus, what's wrong?"

Magnus sighed and turned to Alec. “I had a dream last night.”

Alec was silent, a tiny nod the indication he gave that he was listening.

“I dreamt that we were back in Edom, and you… you offered yourself to my father. In exchange for  _ my _ safety. And then I woke up and found out that you almost died last night. How is that supposed to make me feel?” Magnus explained, looking at Alec with a heavy heart.

Alec moved closer to Magnus, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a hug.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Alec whispered into his ear. “But I’m here now. I’m fine.”

“I worry that you won’t always be,” Magnus confessed.

“I worry about you, too,” Alec said, pulling away from the hug and kissing Magnus on the lips. “And Magnus… I had a nightmare once, too - that you died there in Edom. I was terrified. I always am. But despite all that, there is no other way I’d rather be. I love this life with you.”

“I love it too, Alexander,” Magnus said, smiling and reaching up to cup his chin. “But… promise me you’ll be more careful, okay?”

Alec took Magnus’s hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. “I promise.”


End file.
